Sleuth Home - Message Boards - Writer's Workshop

Aug-18-2009 01:13
(sticky post)

So, you've written a Scripted Mystery and are about to submit it for editing. Or perhaps you already have submitted it, and are waiting for it to be published.

Not so fast, there. Here are some things you should know and take to heart.

1. When you submit a Scripted Mystery, it is sent to a queue. The editors take the next mystery in the queue to review. It may take a while to get to your mystery, so be patient.

2. When an editor pulls a Scripted Mystery from the queue, we check it over to see if certain criteria is met. For example, are there a minimum of five suspects? Are the Introduction, Crime Scene, and Ending very short? Does the entire mystery lack descriptive writing? Heck, does it lack a PLOT? Is the author suffering from 'Back to the Future' syndrome? (Hint: they didn't have DNA evidence in the 1920's and 1930's.) Did the author run their work through a spellcheck or is the whole thing so badly typed it appears they just didn't care?

Also, please be advised that we do check for content and language. This is a rated PG game, folks, and our players range in age from 10 to 60+. Blatantly sexual content and graphic violence are unacceptable. We may allow certain words in some places but remove that same word from others; context is always taken under consideration. Vulgarity for the sake of vulgarity is not acceptible, and any offensive words, terms and/or phrases used will be removed, and may become a source for rejection.

3. When an editor pulls a Scripted Mystery from the queue, we do a play-through to see if there are mechanical problems, and how many there are. Most Scripted Mysteries end up with a couple of mechanical issues (an important question or twist isn't unlocked, etc.), and that's expected. But if none of the questions, twists, research, etc. are unlocked by any other events, there's a real problem.

Aug-18-2009 01:14

8. Probably a more philosophical point but, you know... none of us are as good as we like to think we are. (Editors included). Have an open mind to change. Have an open mind to the terrible conclusion that that which you have reckoned to be the greatest piece of literature since Wuthering Heights may in fact ... well... not be. We'll help as much as we can, taking into consideration the points above, but you have to LET us!

It is almost impossible to help you, if, for example, you receive your first PM of corrections/changes/suggestions and you immediately launch into a self-possessed tirade about your knowledge of conjugated verbs. The writing/editing process should be collaborative, not combative.

9. The editing team is pretty tight, and we keep each other apprised of what we're working on and what we've done. If editor A wants you to make changes, and you try to get editor B to pass it through instead, it's not going to work.

10. After all the work you authors have done... after all the work we editors have done... there is absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that Admin will publish your Scripted Mystery. He has his own (unknown) criteria and, being Admin/Owner, answers to no one (except Sunny, and SHE answers to absolutely no one!!). There is nothing the editors can do about that.

In closing, we hope this helps some of you would-be and actually-are authors out there to understand some of the behind-the-scenes stuff that your SM sees but you don't. This post was done for informational purposes only, please do not post comments in reply. Thank you.


Anikka, Secret_Squirrel, and Ms Helen

Aug-18-2009 08:17

Thank you very much Anikka, Secret_Squirrel, and Ms Helen for all your hard work! I, and others, greatly appreciate all you do for the game. Thanks also for posting this so everyone can see a bit of what you all do and have to put up with!

Aug-21-2009 16:09

To the writers and to the editors, I applaud you all for doing such a great job!!! May all of you not get tired of writing and editing. Thank you!!! :)

Aug-23-2009 18:38

Writing is human nature, but editing is a divine act of will.

I really appreciate all the hours and effort the editors have put into other people's creation. It is not easy, as i am sure each writer would view their work as their 'baby'. The willingness to 'go under the knife' in itself is a process of growth and maturity. May we all grow together as writers and human beings here in Sleuth!

Thank you for putting this up, editors. This post helps all of us put things into perspective. I myself must have broken a few rules in the process (especially the PG limit LOL), this let us know what to do / expect ahead of time. Happy writing / editing everyone!!

Apr-9-2015 19:41

Also ... don't drink and write, OK!

Nov-17-2015 21:13

How to add "rule out suspects" GUI to scripted mysteries?

Nov-18-2015 10:23

Since scripted mysteries have a bit of a different set up to the regular cases (for example, unique pieces of evidence), the Detective's Notes has been disabled for them. It might be possible to create a special version of the Detective's Notes for scripted mysteries in the future though.